Here's another chapter...i forgot to put the disclaimer in the first chapter, oops
disclaimer: I don't own life with derek
Casey pulled up to the familiar house where she spent her crazy teenage years. Instead of getting out of her '99 Chevy, she sat in the car for a moment to figure out a way to handle all the chaos inside that house.
"CASEY!" Nora screamed as soon as Casey walked through the front door.
"Hi, mom." Casey said as she got wrapped up in a hug before she could even put her bags down.
Her mom finally released her and Casey looked around: a partially decorated tree, presents scattered about, Lizzie running down the stairs, Edwin using some sort of scanner to try and figure out what is inside the boxes, Marti running around in a reindeer outfit and George with his head in his hands sitting at the table. Then Lizzie ran up to her.
"How long are you here for this time?" Lizzie asked quizzically.
"I'm leaving the day after Christmas for a skiing adventure with Winnie. Sorry, Liz."
Lizzie sighed, "At least I have some time with you before you abandon me, as per usual."
Casey laughed and went upstairs to her old room to unpack.
While Casey was unpacking, she got a waft of something.
"Hey, Space Case." Derek said as he plopped onto her bed.
She sighed, "I thought I smelled something foul."
"Hmm, I thought that was you..." He pondered, "Well, anyways, I need to you do me a favor."
"I don't need to do anything for you." She said with an attitude as she was laying out her outfit for Christmas morning.
"Casey, please." He asked seriously.
She turned to look at him, "What do you want, Derek."
He smirked, "Well, since you have a car...I was wondering if I could borrow it and do my Christmas shopping."
She laughed hysterically, "Derek, number one, it's Christmas Eve, your shopping should be done. Number two, there is no way in hell you're going to take my car out. Number three A, what happened to the Prince...and if the Prince is gone, that takes me to three B, why can't you just use my mom's or your dad's car?"
"Ugh," Derek groaned, "so many complex questions; 3A and 3B?!" He took a deep breath, "I didn't shop yet because the Prince died," he said pretending to tear up, "and my dad says if I want another car I would have to buy it! Come on, I live in Toronto, who needs a car in the city? And I can't use my dad's car because he's getting groceries, and Nora's car is parallel parked in the front...I would never be able to get the car out. Can I please just use your car?"
"You know what? Maybe it's the Christmas spirit in the air, but I'll take you." She said...then added a laugh and a shake of the head, "I can't believe you actually thought I would let you use my car."
He huffed and left the room.
Casey ate her lunch and went back upstairs to find Derek.
"Are you ready?" Casey asked from outside his room.
"Sure." He said as he opened the door and appeared, "Let's go."
They experienced a silent ride to the mall.
Casey led him though the mall, "Okay, so let's start with Nora and George...what do you plan on getting them?"
"Umm, I thought you would know what to get them..." He said not making eye contact.
She rolled her eyes, "Well, lucky for you, I brought everybody's' shopping lists!" She said with an excited smile.
Now he was rolling his eyes, "Can we get on with this? What do the parents want?"
"Well, it says here that they want a "state of the art" webcam...so they can talk to us at school." She said the last part with a frown.
"Goodie." He said flatly, "Well, here are some...I guess I'll get this one." He said holding one up.
He purchased the webcam and moved on, "Who next?"
"Hmm, Edwin wants the "new strategical game" Spore Galactic Division." Casey said twisting her mouth around.
"Classic Edwin..." Derek said laughing.
"I swear he's going to be a spy some day." Casey said returning the laugh.
He bought the game and looked for Lizzie's gift.
"Okay, Lizzie wants new soccer cleats...size 5."
It took Derek and Casey awhile to find the perfect cleats...but they eventually found some.
"I'm getting hungry, how about we get a bite to eat before buying Marti's present." Casey announced.
They were walking to the food court when Casey just had to stop and look at the jewelery shop.
"Oh my goodness, Derek, look at this necklace! It's so beautiful and classy!"
"Come on, Case, I'm hungry." He nudged along.
He couldn't help but notice as she was walking away, she couldn't take her eyes off that necklace in the window.
They each got slices of pizza and some water.
"Case, I have to go to the bathroom." He said as he got up from the small table.
"Okay!" She managed with her mouth partially full.
He walked over to the near by jewelery store...luckily Casey's back was towards him so she couldn't see.
He walked in to inquire about it.
"Hi, how much is that blue topaz circle necklace?" He asked the sales clerk.
"Oh, that one's actually on sale for 94.50!" She said enthusiastically.
He inhaled sharply and looked back at Casey in the food court. A homeless man had come up to her asking for change. He watched her carefully as she took out her purse and handed him some cash. The man gave her a hug and Derek saw her giggle. He smiled to himself, "I'll take it."
A few minutes later, he was hiding the bag in another bag. He could not believe that he just bought that for Casey...it must have been the Christmas spirit.
He finally returned to the table.
"What took you so long?" Casey said laughing, "Wait, I don't want to know." She said waving a hand up to her head.
"Geez, Space Case, there was a line."
She blushed and moved on, "Okay, so Marti wants...a puppy."
Derek laughed, "I always wanted a puppy when I was little."
"I don't see why she can't have one, like, honestly, Mom, George, Liz and Ed aren't allergic..."
"I say we get one." Derek said simply with a smile playing on his lips.
Derek and Casey agreed that they didn't want a puppy from one of the dog shops because they usually have health issues, so they grabbed a newspaper and looked in the pet section.
"What about this one, Case?" He asked as he pointed to an ad, "7 week old golden retriever puppies, to a good home."
"Let's get it!" Casey said like a little kid.
They drove out to the address listed and met the owners.
"So how much money are we talking?" Derek asked.
"Actually, we were thinking since it's Christmas Eve and there are only three puppies left, we should have a sale, 30 each."
"Oh, Derek! Only 30! That's perfect! Let's pick one out..." Casey said.
Derek picked up a puppy and it immediately started to lick his shirt.
"Space Case, I like this one." He said laughing.
"But what about this one?" She asked as a puppy that she was holding was licking her face.
"I want this one." He stated.
"But Der-ek, this one is soooo cute!"
"Case..."
"Can't we get both?"
"Ugh, fine!"
They picked up their puppies, paid, and started to leave, but then they heard a puppy crying.
"Derek," Casey said with the eyes tearing up, "we left that one all by itself."
Derek actually really did feel bad, so he sighed, "Go get 'em."
Casey smiled, paid, and grabbed the puppy.
Luckily, Casey had a blanket in the back seat of her car, so they put it on Derek's lap and the puppies laid down on him.
They were finally on their way home.
"Casey, we're really going to need to sneak in...where should we put the puppies?"
"Well, it's getting late," Casey said as she glanced at the clock: 10:47, "I'll go in first and distract everyone into the kitchen, then you can sneak them in...come into the kitchen when you're done so I know when to stop."
"Sounds good to me." He said.
They pulled into the driveway and Casey went inside.
"Hey guys!" She said as she entered the house.
Nora, George, Liz and Ed were in the living room talking.
"Who wants ice cream sundaes?" Casey randomly blurted out.
They all eventually agreed and she ushered them into the kitchen. She gave them all a task in the ice cream assembly line as she went and opened the front door. She gave Derek a thumbs up so he could come in.
Nora put the last of the sprinkles on the last sundae and they all sat down to enjoy. Right after that, Derek was downstairs with the family.
"Hey, Derek, I didn't hear you come in." Edwin said, eying him suspiciously.
"That's because I crept in so you couldn't see your Christmas present."
Edwin was not suspicious now, so he went back to his ice cream.
A few minutes later they heard a little yelp from upstairs.
"What was that?" George asked.
"Hmm?" Casey asked quickly.
"What?" Derek said at the same time.
Everyone at the table looked at them.
"It must be Emily's cat...probably stuck in the gutter again!" Casey said, fake laughing.
"That darn cat!" Derek added in.
"Well, I'm tired. I'm going to bed." Derek and Casey said at the exact same time...trying to fill in the awkwardness.
The entire table still stared at them as they retreated upstairs.
"They are getting weirder and weirder every day." Lizzie said.
Casey ran up to her room with Derek.
"Why are they in my room?" Casey complained.
"My room's too messy." Derek stated.
"Here, after the family goes to bed, go to the garage and get the little garden fencing for the rabbits and bring it up here. We can make a tiny pen for them." Casey decided.
Derek agreed and waited until the family went to bed.
Within an hour, Derek had the fencing upstairs and make a decent sized fence.
Suddenly one of the puppies started to pee, "Shit! Derek!" Casey yelled.
Derek grabbed the puppy, ran downstairs and out the door.
Casey followed with the other two in her arms; she wanted them all to go at once.
They were outside for a good twenty minutes waiting for them all to pee.
"It's freezing." Casey shuddered.
"I see no reason for you to be up, go to bed. I can take them back to your room."
Casey smiled, "Thanks, Derek!"
She grabbed the puppy that already peed and skipped into the house. As soon as she was in, she put the puppy in the pen and went to bed.
Meanwhile Derek was outside waiting for the last puppy to pee.
"Come on! Pee already!" He whispered.
Finally it did its business and Derek carried them inside to Casey's room.
He set them in their pen, went to his room and began to wrap his presents.
Okay, so Christmas obviously had to come before the trip!! The trip will begin in not the next chapter, but the one after that :)
Please review... your review my faster update